Place:Massena, St. Lawrence, New York, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Massena is a village in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The village is named after André Masséna, one of Napoleon's generals.

The Village of Massena is at the southwestern town line of the Town of Massena, with a small southeastern section of the community spilling into the Town of Louisville, and a tiny portion in the Town of Norfolk. The village is located near the northern border of the county.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The village was first settled circa 1803. Part of its early growth was based on neighboring medicinal springs. André Masséna was one of the original eighteen Marshals of France created by Napoleon.

Massena is the hometown of Baseball Hall of Fame member Bid McPhee, who was born there in 1859. Voice actor Hal Smith spent a significant part of his early years living in Massena. He graduated from the Massena High School in 1936.

In 1928, Massena was the site of a blood libel against its small Jewish community.^[1] Its history has been recorded by the town's longstanding newspaper, The Courier-Observer, formerly named The Massena Observer' , and in The Incident at Massena, a 1978 book by historian Saul S. Friedman.

Throughout the mid 20th century, Massena experienced enormous growth due to the construction of the Franklin D. Roosevelt power project and the Eisenhower locks which helped connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River. Massena established itself as the manufacturing center of St. Lawrence county with Aluminum Company Of America (Alcoa) plant, Reynolds Metals plant (now Alcoa) and a General Motors Powertrain plant (dismantled in 2011). The Alcoa East plant was temporarily idled in 2009, but began to restart pot lines in January 2011.

The village has experienced a decline in population in recent decades largely due to its eroding industrial base and incomes. The unemployment and crime rates for the village had doubled in the past decade. The village tax rates have gone up 52 percent since 2004. The government blames it on growing employee union increased pay demands and pension funds.

Many of the Main Street's storefronts of downtown remain vacant. Some of the abandoned buildings along Water Street have been torn down as well. Various vacant homes throughout the town have burned or also been torn down. Furthermore, the St. Lawrence Centre Mall, once a thriving shopping center, has seen nearly 90% of its stores close their doors at the mall, while many simply left the town altogether. The crime rate of Massena has gone up dramatically in the past 10 years. Former police chief and current village mayor Tim Currier was arrested on drug charges. An effort to change the community into a productive and positive direction began in 2013.

The Robinson Bay Archeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

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